Is Bill Thompson Color-Blind on Stop-and-Frisk ?

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson’s restrained approach to ending stop-and-frisk policing has paid dividends with the endorsement from a coalition of city law-enforcement unions, the NYTimes writes. (via City & State First Read)

From the NYTimes :

Jumaane D. Williams, a city councilman from Brooklyn who has sponsored legislation against stop-and-frisk tactics, bluntly suggested that Mr. Thompson was taking the allegiance of black voters for granted.

“I think he believes that the color of his skin is what’s needed to get to communities of color, rather than standing on the correct substance of issues,” he said.

Bill de Blasio Is Uncommitted To Saving NYC Libraries

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio talks down the wave of library closings under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He says it is not his priority.

The Public Advocate, who is running for mayor this year, does not directly address the fact that civic activist Michael D. D. White points out that the Public Advocate has accepted campaign money from the Ratner real estate developer.

How disappointing to see the Public Advocate have no position on library closings in Brooklyn, or the disastrous plans (known as the Central Library Plan) for the Main Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Isn't he supposed to be advocating for the people as Public Advocate ? If he abdicates that role as Public Advocate, what would he be like as mayor ?

For more information, please visit http://www.savenypl.org or visit the blog : Citizens Defending Libraries or sign the petition.

Who Induced The Homophobic Rev. Erick Salgado To Run For Mayor ? Hmmmmmm....

"In 1977, things got ugly when a large field of evenly matched Democrats went at it in a fierce primary. Remember 'Vote for Cuomo, not the homo?' Ed Koch ended up winning that contest with 19.8 percent of the vote, followed by Mario Cuomo at 18.7, Abe Beame at 18, Bella Abzug at 17, Percy Sutton at 14.4, and Herman Badillo at 11," wrote David Seifman in the NYPost. (Who’s screwed by Weiner’s entry * The New York Post) Is the Rev. Erick Salgado's role in this year's mayor's race meant to invoke a last-minute tirade of "homophobia" to benefit Christine Quinn's campaign ? What explains how or why the Rev. Salgado is even in this race ? (Anti-Gay Pastor And NOM Supporter Erick Salgado May Run For NYC Mayor * Joe My God)

Who enticed the Rev. Salgado to run for mayor ?

Christine Quinn, LGBTQ Hate Crimes, and Political Expediency

From The Village Voice :

"... the prospect of Quinn's active participation in the march provoked a sort of counter-protest by a small contingent of activists who are unimpressed with Quinn's record. As the main rally moved south on Greenwich Avenue, marchers passed a tiny contingent of activists holding up a sign on the island intersection at Seventh Avenue. 'We need a hospital, we don't need condos,' it read. The side-vigil raised the question of why Carson was taken to Beth Israel, on First Avenue, and whether he could have been saved if he was treated nearby. The handful of activists standing in the shadow of the building that used to be St. Vincent's Hospital, now being converted into 350 luxury condo units, criticized Quinn for signing off on the zoning change that made this development possible, even though the City Council speaker's brand had been stamped all over the larger march itself."

Did New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn cancel her planned political exploitation of Monday night's Mark Carson vigil, after The Village Voice and Michael Petrelis exposed these concerns ?

Speaker Quinn has a history of exploiting tragedy for political gain.

Earlier this year, after former mayor Ed Koch passed away, Speaker Quinn's campaign staff were trying to figure out how to exploit Mayor Koch's endorsement of Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign, even after he had died -- and he was no longer around to approve of the campaign's messaging.

And in 1998, while she was in her first political campaign to be elected to the City Council, Ms. Quinn was using a spike in bias crimes against the LGBTQ community as an excuse to call for canceling that year's annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

SIDEBAR : Please watch this video, which I just discovered this morning, which explains why it might be more accurate to describe the discrimination against the LGBTQ community as "heterosexual-supremacy" instead of using the term "homophobia."

1199 Dumps Quinn, Endorses de Blasio

"1199 SEIU, the powerful health care workers' union, has decided to endorse Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in the Democratic primary for mayor, sources say. ... The endorsement will be a boost for De Blasio's campaign, which has been counting on his strong ties to labor to distinguish him from the other Democrats trailing Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the polls." (Capital New York)

Healthcare activists have noted that ten full service hospitals have closed in New York City during the time in which Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the City Council. Prior to being Speaker, Christine Quinn served four years as chair of the City Council Health Committee, where she obviously learned nothing about the collapsing free-market model that funds healthcare. It's no surprise that the healthcare union would choose another candidate to endorse.

Village Independent Democrats Endorse John Liu Over Christine Quinn

We waited a few days for confirmation about last Thursday night's endorsement meeting.

But The New York Post was the first newspaper to finally report that the Village Independent Democrats did not endorse New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign. Instead, the Village Independent Democrats voted to endorse New York City Comptroller John Liu's mayoral campaign.

"The Village Independent Democrats, located in the heart of Quinn’s district, instead opted to back City Comptroller John Liu — the most liberal in the race," reported Sally Goldenberg in The Post.

Two other Manhattan Democratic Party clubs also did not endorse Speaker Quinn in this year's mayor's race.

The Broadway Democrats and CoDA (Coalition for a Democratic Alternative), both progressive clubs in Manhattan, also threw their support behind Liu, whose campaign has been marred by the guilty verdict of two aides in a federal campaign-finance fraud case.

A source close to the Village Independent Democrats said Quinn was “livid” over losing that group.

“I think they were shocked,” the source said of the speaker’s election team. “Quinn’s ground game in Manhattan is off.” Campaign aides for Quinn and Liu did not comment.

Read more : Quinn is ‘left’ out.

Christine Quinn Flushing Meadows Corona Park Meme

Another Christine Quinn Corruption Connection : First Dan Halloran, Then Ruben Wills

One of the publicly-elected officials, who State Sen. Shirley Huntley was asked to wiretap and photograph by the FBI, was Queens Councilmember Ruben Wills, according to Politicker.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn endorsed Council Member Ruben Wills for re-election in 2011, one day after he appeared in court to face a misdemeanor stealing charge. Councilmember Wills won a special election in southeast Queens in 2010 to succeed Thomas White, who died in August in 2010, and Councilmember Wills was re-elected in 2011 continue to serve the remainder of White’s four-year term. Wills appeared in court in March 2011 on charges in connection with a 1996 incident. He’s accused of damaging a wall and removing a fan and track lighting at a downtown business. (The Wall Street Journal)

After his March 2011 court appearance, Speaker Quinn defended Councilmember Wills. "I'm extraordinarily proud of my City Council and proud of the members that I get to serve with every day on behalf of the people of the City of New York," she told The Daily News.

Speaker Quinn awarded Councilmember Wills $584,000 in discretionary funding in 2012. (The New York Daily News)

New York City Councilmember Daniel J. Halloran suggested to an undercover FBI agent that Mr. Halloran could increase the size of the discretionary funds he was using as a bribe by calling in favours from other councilmembers. * In The Criminal Complaint, Dan Halloran Demonstrates How Slush Funds Are Used For Fraud

Will LGBT Defections Derail Christine Quinn's Mayoral Campaign ?

Is Christine Quinn Just An Old-Fashioned, Cigar-Chomping Political Boss ?

The stop-and-frisk narrative from The Village Voice : "LGBT Purists to Christine Quinn: We'd Love a Gay Mayor. Just Not You."

... Gay men of color are just as affected by stop-and-frisk as anyone else, notes Fordham University political science professor Christina Greer. "Even though the face of the LGBT community in New York City is white men, that's not the makeup," she says. "If you're black and gay, stop-and-frisk may be a primary issue." Unlike her three Democratic rivals, Bill de Blasio, John Liu, and Bill Thompson, Quinn has refused to make a blanket condemnation of stop-and-frisk.

Then there's condom-carry, an issue particularly troubling to those fighting the ongoing AIDS epidemic. As the Voice has reported, the city vigorously supports and promotes condoms through the Department of Health, but allows police to arrest alleged prostitutes found to be carrying them. Transgender women complain that the NYPD targets them simply because of the way they're dressed. Quinn reportedly sent staffers to a key meeting on the issue instead of attending herself.

... On stop-and-frisk, Quinn doesn't have the luxury of simply disregarding city policy, Duane insists. "She has to work under the policies the mayor has set," he says, "or she'd have to resign." Quinn has instead advocated for changes in police training and for the appointment of an inspector general to monitor the NYPD. Such a diplomatic solution doesn't satisfy critics like Flores. "If Christine Quinn was the head of AVP today, she would be fighting [stop-and-frisk]," he says. Quinn did make one major concession last week when she agreed to allow a council vote on allowing victims of racial profiling to sue the NYPD—the first time she hasn't blocked a bill that she opposes.

On condom-carry, Quinn certainly doesn't equivocate. "Condoms being found on somebody and used against them should be changed," she says. "If I have the power to make direct changes, I will. We need to encourage safe sex. Whether for money or not, we cannot talk out of both sides of our mouths. ...

This article may be perhaps the first time when Speaker Quinn publicly addresses the issue that the NYPD are arresting LGBT New Yorkers for carrying condoms. But her talk is cheap, as activists have learned -- the hard way.

Let's see what Speaker Quinn actually does about the way the NYPD profiles, stops-and-frisks, targets, and falsely arrests LGBT New Yorkers ?

Let's let her actual record -- of what she delivers -- to be the final judgment of her political record.

Does Quinn's Close Relationship With Bloomberg Jeopardise Campaign, Betray LGBT Community ?

Speaker Quinn Uses Bloomberg Events To Fluff Campaign, Turns Back On Bloomberg-NYPD Discrimination Against LGBT Community

Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign is increasingly seen as desperate, since her poll numbers are beginning to fall, now that more and more voters are tuning into her dismal political record -- and to her close relationship with the unpopular mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

• For the second time in a week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has allowed Christine Quinn to take center stage at a big announcement by his administration. More and more, Speaker Quinn has come to be seen as interchangeable for Mayor Bloomberg during big policy announcements. “The mayor, without officially endorsing her, is helping her with his administration,” said George Arzt, a Democratic consultant. The strategy is a calculated risk: much of the criticism leveled at Ms. Quinn has been about her coziness with Mr. Bloomberg, particularly her support of the mayor’s successful effort to overturn the city’s term limits law and run for a third term. (Bloomberg Helping Quinn's Fledgling Mayoral Campaign With Media Events : NYTimes)
• Meanwhile, as Christine Quinn uses Bloomberg administration press conferences to help rescue her sinking mayoral campaign, the Bloomberg administration continues its attack on safe sex. Advocates say too many New Yorkers land in jail after cops confiscate condoms. Clara Sierra was falsely arrested her and charged with prostitution by police, after she was found carrying condoms. She served 10 days in Rikers. On this serious issue, which affects the LGBT community, Christine Quinn sides with Mayor Bloomberg, so that she won't jeopardise his backroom support for her mayoral campaign. Speaker Quinn puts her own political ambitions over the needs of the LGBT community. It hasn't been the first time, and it certainly won't be the last. (Transgenders Face Discrimination, False Arrests By NYPD : Metro)

TV Ad : Did Christine Quinn Take Campaign Donations To Approve Rudin Luxury Condos ?

The latest ad by New York City is Not for Sale 2013 blames Christine Quinn for her role in St. Vincent’s Hospital closure.

A group of citizen activists has previewed an advance look at a new TV advertisement that blames New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

The TV ad, released by the group known as NYC Is Not For Sale 2013, exposes how there has been an appearance of a quid-pro-quo between Speaker Quinn and Rudin Management Company, the real estate developer, which foreclosed on St. Vincent's Hospital. Members of the Rudin family, who own the billion-dollar Rudin Management Company enterprise, donated $30,000 to Speaker Quinn, who conveniently later supported a zoning change that paved the way for the Greenwich Village hospital to close.

Read more : SEE IT: New ad blasts Christine Quinn for role in closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital

In exchange for $30,000 in campaign donations, did New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sell out her community ?

Do the political campaign donations by Beth R. DeWoody, Madeleine R. Johnson, Eric C. Rudin, Jack Rudin, Katherine Rudin, and William C. Rudin, who each donated $4,950 to Christine Quinn's presumed 2013 mayoral campaign, amount to influence peddling ? After all, since even before St. Vincent's Hospital closed, Speaker Quinn has been toeing the Rudin family line : close down St. Vincent's and replace it with an inferior urgent care center.

Not only did Speaker Quinn say that we only needed an urgent care center to replace St. Vincent's, but she approved the Rudin family's plan, allowing St. Vincent's Hospital to be rezoned into luxury condos. Since 2010, the Rudin family has been trying to get approval for a billion-dollar real estate development plan for the buildings that belong to the bankruptcy estate of St. Vincent's Hospital. Since the Rudin family wants to build luxury high-rise condos on the site of St. Vincent's, and since they needed City Council approval from Speaker Quinn, do these large campaign donations explain why Speaker Quinn did nothing to restore a Level I trauma center and full-service hospital to the former St. Vincent's site ? Does Speaker Quinn's official acts come as a result of sizable campaign donations from the likes of the Rudin family ?

To Preet Bharara : Do @chriscquinn's official acts come as a result of campaign donations ? christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2011/02/rudin-… #StVincentsHospital

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 4, 2013

City Council Community Outreach Does Campaign Outreach For Christine Quinn

The Community Outreach Unit of the New York City Council, a taxpayer-financed office that has organized rallies to protect student subway discounts and sponsored adult education fairs, frequently functions as something else as well: a publicity and public relations machine for Christine C. Quinn. Read more : City Council’s Outreach Unit, Run by Quinn, Mainly Benefits Her Campaign

@uft - @quinn4ny uses Council's 16 person "Community Outreach Unit" as her private campaign staff nyti.ms/Yyq8Ps @mjalonschi

— Defeat Chris Quinn (@defeatquinn) April 19, 2013

The New York Times described the Community Outreach Unit, a taxpayer-financed group of many political operatives, as almost entirely focused on propping up Speaker Quinn's political image, which would benefit her mayoral campaign.

"Inside the community outreach office recently, there was a photograph of Ms. Quinn handing a plaque to Whoopi Goldberg. Below, a dry erase board bore reminders about two coming events the group helped organize: a breakfast for women of faith and a celebration of Irish culture. Ms. Quinn was the featured speaker at both. At the Irish event, the unit’s workers escorted to their seats prominent Irish-American families, including relatives of Thomas Manton, the former chairman of the Queens Democratic Party, whose backing was crucial to Ms. Quinn’s election as speaker," The New York Times reported.

This isn't the first time Speaker Quinn has been accused of using taxpayer money for her campaign.

A former deputy chief of staff to Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn who recently served as a top aide to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s re-election effort has been fined for violating city law by soliciting campaign contributions for Ms. Quinn while working for her.

In announcing the sanction on Monday, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board said in a statement that around April 2007, the former aide, Maura Keaney, made between six and a dozen phone calls to union representatives to ask them to be on the host committee for a fund-raising event for Ms. Quinn’s re-election bid. The ethics board, which fined Ms. Keaney $2,500, noted that serving on the host committee required a campaign contribution. (NYTimes : Ethics Panel Fines Ex-Aide to Speaker)

Does Outreach do fundraising ? Remember Maura Keaney ? @suzannahbtroy @nyccouncil @chriscquinn @defeatquinn @dumpchrisquinn @colvinj

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 19, 2013

Moreover, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, a nonprofit group, which has publicly supported Speaker Quinn's campaign platform for several years, requested $100,000 in City Council slush funds for each of the past three years to advocate for Speaker Quinn. By admission of the office of Speaker Quinn, these funds were granted by Speaker Quinn. (WSJ : City Grants Aids Quinn Campaign)

Christine Quinn, Liz Holtzman, CityTime, Pay-To-Play Endorsements

Christine Quinn Kept The CityTime Gravy Train Rolling ; Lobbyists Like Liz Holtzman Kept Rolling In The CityTime Dough ; Scratch-My-Back, Pay-To-Play Endorsements ?

Today, CityTime lobbyist Liz Holtzman endorsed the mayoral candidacy of Christine Quinn.

WNYC was one of many media Web sites, which reported Ms. Holtzman's connection to the $600 million CityTime scandal. Ms. Holtzman was once a four-term Congresswoman.

The city's lobbying database shows a small army of former prominent city officials who did work for SAIC and Technodyne. Defense contractor SAIC has retained former City Comptroller Liz Holtzman, Peter Powers, who served as Mayor Giuliani's top deputy Mayor for operations, and Seth Kaye, who worked in both the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations. Technodyne's lobbyists include former Bloomberg Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Commissioner Gino Menchini and Agostino Cangemi, who also held key posts in both administrations. (CityTime Payroll Scandal a Cautionary Tale * WNYC)

Why is Speaker Quinn desperate to accept Ms. Holtzman's endorsement ? At one time, Ms. Holtzman was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Congresman Anthony Weiner after his resignation, but Ms. Holtzman's connection to the scandalous CityTime fraud immediately disqualified her.

Ms. Holtzman's lobbying firm was paid $120,000 in 2009, $90,000 in 2010, and $200,000 in 2011 by SAIC, the maker of CityTime, to lobby New York City politicians in order to keep NYC.gov paying CityTime's huge cost overruns. Eventually, it was estimated that SAIC over-billed New York City by $600 million, and Ms. Holtzman was one of the principal lobbyist being paid to keep that gravy train rolling. Her lobbying firm was paid $410,000 to keep the CityTime gravy train rolling into Ms. Holtzman's station.

City Councilmember Letitia James called for investigations into CityTime, but Speaker Quinn, who controls the City Council like a dictator, thwarted each attempt to launch a full City Council investigation into the CityTime overbilling scandal. (Daily News)

Maybe Ms. Holtzman is grateful that Speaker Quinn thwarted all those City Council investigations, thereby protecting Ms. Holtzman's CityTime gravy train, and, as patronage, has offered up her endorsement as pay back ?

Ms. Holtzman's endorsement was made during an announcement of a group that Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign describes as ''Women for Chris.''

If @repweiner enters mayor's race, @chriscquinn's lead will immediately drop by 11 points capitalnewyork.com/article/politi… @defeatquinn

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 18, 2013

Speaker Quinn's latest maneuvering with Ms. Holtzman's endorsement comes on the same day when it was announced that her campaign would immediately drop 11 percentage points in voter support if Mr. Weiner were to enter the mayoral race. Speaker Quinn also faces sharp criticism and endless protests by LGBT activists, who claim that Speaker Quinn has sold out.

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2009 Billing) by Connaissable

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2010 Billing) by Connaissable

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2011 Billing) by Connaissable

Quinn Campaign Reaches New Level of Desperation with Plummeting Poll Numbers and Onslaught of Social Media Campaign

The New York Daily News published an article on Page 2 today about the growing online movement against Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign.

In the last week, it was announced that Speaker Quinn's campaign has been losing public support for her bid to replace Michael Bloomberg as mayor in this year's election. Now, comes word that Speaker Quinn's campaign operatives are beginning to openly disparage LGBTQS members of Queers Against Christine Quinn as "crazies." Queers Against Christine Quinn is a Facebook page of autonomous LGBTQS New Yorkers, who, among other issues, have been critical about how the NYPD unfairly target and falsely arrest LGBT New Yorkers in both the police department's unconstitutional stop-and-frisk program and as part of its effort to criminalise the possession of condoms. * Christine Quinn pressed on stop-and-frisk (NYPost)

Why would campaign operatives defend Speaker Quinn's inaction in the face of the NYPD's discrimination of our own LGBT community ? This must be one measure of how desperate Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign must find itself, after weeks and weeks of stining criticism over first opposing paid sick leave only to water it down, over the slush fund-related federal corruption arrest of Councilmember Dan Halloran, and over her controversial attack on the First Amendment following the critical New York City Is Not For Sale TV commercial.

If Speaker Quinn is able to find operatives to defend her failure to stand up to the NYPD's record of discrimination, then it means that her supporters are willing to go to any length, including publicly throwing the LGBTQS community under the bus, in order for her to become mayor. Now we know how much the issue of LGBT equality factors into her mayoral platform : in her campaign's mind, we are expendable.

For more information, please read Chapter 1 of the unauthorised political biography of Christine Quinn.

2013-04-01 Roots of Betrayal © 2013 by Louis Flores - Uncorrected Proof Not For Sale Chapter I Excerpt by Connaissable

Christine Quinn NY1 Censorship Scandal

On the same day when the civic group called NYC Is Not For Sale 2013 produced and paid for a TV ad that criticised Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign, Speaker Quinn hired a very expensive law firm to bully NY1 into pulling the plug on the TV ad. Now, the NY1 program The Call is dedicating an entire hour to the topic of Speaker Quinn's questionable ethics.

Blogs and YouTube videos critical of @chriscquinn have been censored. No surprise that her reaction to NY1 is more censorship. @ny1thecall

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 9, 2013

Speaker Quinn's lawyer threatened NY1 with the possibility that it would lose its broadcast license if it did not remove the TV ad.

Here's the letter from Quinn's campaign calling on NY1 to pull anti-Quinn ad scribd.com/doc/134783153/…

— Chris Bragg (@ChrisBragg1) April 8, 2013

2013-04-08 Christine Quinn NY1 Stroock Threatening Letter

Why doesn't Stroock go after the artist and blogger Suzannah B. Troy ? Maybe because Ms. Troy's videos tell the truth ? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Blogs and YouTube videos critical of @chriscquinn have been censored. No surprise that her reaction to NY1 is more censorship. @ny1thecall

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 9, 2013

For years before Speaker Quinn's campaign threatened NY1 with losing its license, entire blogs, entire YouTube channels, and several individual YouTube videos, which have been critical of Speaker Quinn, have been censored. The Christine Quinn parody puppet show video was censored by YouTube for several months.

And the No Third Term blog was censored, as well.